{"id":163700,"date":"2022-05-27T05:50:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-27T10:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=163700"},"modified":"2022-05-27T05:52:48","modified_gmt":"2022-05-27T10:52:48","slug":"what-would-you-do-if-you-could-sue-for-social-media-addiction-in-your-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2022\/05\/what-would-you-do-if-you-could-sue-for-social-media-addiction-in-your-children\/","title":{"rendered":"What would you do if you could sue for social media addiction in your children?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Social media addiction generally, and more so in children, has been a growing issue, and in California, a Bill is before the state legislature to allow parents and guardians to sue social media platforms for addiction in their children. We briefly discuss the Bill, and how social media addiction seems to be viewed in the Caribbean region.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Earlier this week, it was reported that in the state of California, in the United States (US), a Bill was passed in the Lower House of that state\u2019s legislature that would allow parents and guardians to sue social media platforms for up to USD 25,000 per violation for causing harm to children who become addicted to their products. The Social Media Platform Duty to Children Act<\/em> still needs to be passed by the Upper House, or Senate, before in can be signed into law by the State Governor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Act focuses on children under 18 \u201c\u2026who are both harmed \u2014 either physically, mentally, emotionally, developmentally or materially \u2014 and who want to stop or reduce how much time they spend on social media but they can\u2019t because they are preoccupied or obsessed with it<\/em>\u201d (Source: Associated Press<\/a>). However, and to be able to sue, the social media platform must have generated at least USD 100 million in gross revenue in the past year, which would include platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Additionally, the Act does not cover video streaming platforms, such as Netflix, Hulu, or even YouTube, or those that provide email or text messaging services, such as WhatsApp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, and as expected, there is strong opposition to the Bill, especially from the tech industry. In a nutshell, the industry is arguing that the legal risk to companies may result in them ceasing their operations for children in California (Source: Associated Press<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the debate on this Bill will continue in the California State Legislature, it is reportedly the first of its kind in the US. Nevertheless, it has been highlighting the growing concern about social media addiction in children, and the need for stronger protection and controls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Social media then and now<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To a considerable degree, the initial premise for social networks 20 years ago, was to help us connect and share parts of our lives with family and friends. However, in 2021, the industry had over 3.8 billion users, and an advertising spend of USD 181 billion (Source:  Statista<\/a>). In essence, social media is big business, and its greatest commodity is its users, who not only generate the majority of the content, but also consume it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More importantly, the largest and most lucrative revenue stream for social media platform is advertising. However, and to do so well, requires users to stay on the platform for as long as possible, and to return frequently. This is where social media algorithms come in, as it determines what content individual users see, which to varying degrees would be based on factors including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n